Story by MAYAN PAZ Photos by ANNABELLE MALSAM
Tiger Media Network
On Wednesday, the Tiger men’s basketball team took the court inside Gross Memorial Coliseum for the final time this season. FHSU (19-8, 12-6) defeated Nebraska-Kearney 79-57 in a rescheduled game from early January. FHSU went 15-1 at home this season.
While UNK (11-15, 9-9) started the game with an early lead, the Tigers took charge of the game, taking a double-digit lead with about nine minutes left in the first half. FHSU never surrendered the lead again.
While FHSU’s defense continued its nation-leading dominance – holding UNK to just 42% shooting – the Tigers found an offensive rhythm that carried the team to the win. FHSU made 10 three-pointers at a 47.6% clip, shot 56% from the field, and went 19-22 from the free-throw line.
“We shot the ball really well tonight,” FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson said. “Kaleb [Hammeke] has continued the last two weeks of just playing incredible basketball, and the way we do the other things, our guys do a good job of guarding physically and taking care of the basketball. When we make shots, we’re hard to beat, and I think you saw that today.”
In his last home game at FHSU, Hammeke continued his stand-out season, scoring 27 points to go along with five assists and only missing three shots the entire game. Fellow seniors Traejon Davis, Shaun Riley and R.J. Crawford also played their final home games. Davis scored 10 points while Riley and Crawford added seven points each.
“Something about playing here for the last time we just wanted to be focused,” Davis said. “I wish I could have made a couple more threes, but it’s all right, we just wanted to be focused playing here for the last time.”
The team is playing their best basketball of the season right before the MIAA tournament, and they are stepping up toward the occasion. Two of the most important contributors in the win against the Lopers were Kyle Grill, who scored 14 points, and Dan Mukuna, who added 10 points off the bench.
Hammeke spoke about the importance of the collaboration between all players on the team, saying their confidence is continuing to grow.
“I think the whole team’s really stepped up and shot the ball well in the last few games. And when other guys step up to make shots, it gives the whole team confidence, opens up the floor, and creates a lot of possibilities,” he said. “We play so hard every day in practice, I mean, we’re number one in the nation defensively. When you practice against that every day, your offense should eventually figure it out.”
Because of the rescheduled game, the Tigers and the Lopers will play each other again on Saturday, which brings an unusual challenge, playing the same team back-to-back in a short span of time.
“It’ll be interesting. The last game should be fresh in your mind, and we should know what we need to do,” Johnson said. “Obviously, they’re going to be really fired up. There was a little bit of talking going on out there, so they’ll be excited to play this on Saturday. So we just need to match their intensity.”
FHSU and UNK will tip off at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Kearney. The Tigers are currently in a three-way tie with Rogers State and Pittsburg State for second place in the MIAA Standings. However, the MIAA will use KPI standings to determine conference tournament seedings. FHSU was No. 3 in the latest seeding released earlier this week. Final seeds will be announced after the conclusion of Saturday’s games.